The power came back on and we all jumped. Aunt Karen looked at her watch in surprise. “Oh goodness, it’s after twelve. If you girls want to take some river runs before we go tomorrow you’d better get in bed.” She stood to go.
“Mom! You can’t leave us hanging in the middle of the story!” cried Emmie. “What happens to Elizabeth and her family?”
“Does she marry the jerk?” asked Amy.
“What was in the chest?” put in Cassie.
Aunt Karen smiled. “You’ll just have to wait for another time.” She went to the door of the bedroom. “Don’t stay up much longer,” she warned before disappearing inside.
“Man, that was a good story,” Becky sighed as we climbed into our sleeping bags. “I want to hear the rest of it.”
“Maybe we should get together the night before Homecoming and have her finish telling us then.” I suggested.
“Maybe,” Emmie yawned. “Speaking of Homecoming, who are you going to ask? I’m going to ask Michael.” The next half hour we sleepily talked of the up coming dance. But I couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened to Elizabeth Colfer.
* * * *
School started the next week and Emmie and I couldn’t have been happier. This was our territory and nobody could take that away.
We walked into the commons area at lunch, surrounded by our friends Becky, Amy, Cassie, and Andrea. People ran up to get the attention of the most popular girls in school: us. Kids who we had hardly spoken to the previous year gathered around to take part of, if only a little fame.
“Did you guys hear about the new boy?” asked Megan Stanley as we sat at our favorite table. “He’s from Boston and has been all around the world with his parents. He’s really cute too.”
“I heard that he was a model for a men’s clothing magazine,” put in Carissa Matthews. “He’s in my English lit class, 2nd period.”
“Well then you can ask him to homecoming.” Cassie examined her nails. “We already have our boys picked out.”
“I thought it was a boy’s choice. Aren’t they supposed to ask us?”
“Yes, Anna, but that’s the fun of it,” explained Andrea. “You have to get them to want to ask you. Other wise you might as well not be asked. I mean, you could get asked by a complete geek.” The other girls laughed at Anna’s red face, and then the topic turned to the classes we had received so far.
As the bell rang to start the last period, I noticed someone watching me. He was tall and graceful. His blue eyes sparkled in contrast to his dark hair. This must be the new kid, I thought. Megan is right, he is cute. He looked away as the Ms. Ward walked in to begin the class. Through out the class though, he watched me. I’m sure he did! But whenever I turned to look, he was looking at the teacher or at his desk. Cassie looked at me funny after the fifth time of turning around. “What’s with you?” she whispered.
“The new boy keeps looking at me, I swear. It’s starting to bug me.”
“You look like someone who sat on a pinecone or something. Forget about it or you’ll get in trouble.”
I tried not to look the rest of class, but it was hard. As the bell to end school rang I looked once more to see him staring as he picked up his things. He smiled slightly and did a small wave before he rushed out of the room.
“Huh, it looks like you have another admirer,” grumbled Cassie as Becky came up to us. “I think you have about enough though.”
“Who? The new guy? Was that why she kept twitching?” asked Becky.
“I was not twitching!” I objected.
They ignored me.
“What are you talking about?” I grumbled. “Emmie’s the one with all the admirers.”
“Marie, you are so clueless sometimes it hurts to think about.” Becky led the way out into the hall. “I just have to feel sorry for all the boys that don’t catch your notice.” She waved her hand to take in the full hallway.
“But I don’t see any…” I began, but stopped as Josh Crowley walked by. I remembered last year when he had tried to ask me to the Halloween Dance. Then I thought of other boys I had turned down because I was clueless. What kind of she-monster am I? They probably all think I’m being shallow or something. Sure, I like boys. I just never thought that any would notice me, even if I am one of the most popular girls in school. I am such a spaz!
“Oh,” I mumbled softly. I could feel a blush redden my cheeks and I walked faster to the exit. I could hear Cassie’s giggle and Becky hush her as they followed.
* * * *
“Want to go to the mall?” Emmie asked as she drove me home.
“No thanks.”
“Why not?”
“I’m just not in the mood. Maybe this weekend.” She frowned.
“Homecoming’s in two weeks. Have you decided who you’re going with?”
“No.”
“C’mon, Marie. You’re always the last with a date.”
“I’ll get one. Don’t worry about it.”
“And if you don’t?”
“I’ll go stag. That should make some of the boys happy.”
Emmie looked at me as she turned the corner to our street. “You okay?” she asked. “You’re acting a little weird.”
I sighed. “It’s been a weird day. I’ll tell you about it latter. Right now I just want to go home and think.”
I waved as she pulled away and went inside. Yelling to whoever was home, I ran up the stairs and dumped my backpack on the floor of my room. There wasn’t much in it but it still took me a moment till I found what I was looking for: the student directory. In it were pictures of all the students and their personal information, like name, phone number, and address.
The new boy’s name was Ethan Williams. Under interesting details it said that he had moved from Boston and American History was his favorite subject. Must be a nerd, I thought. Who likes history?
The black and white picture was a poor copy of the original, but the light eyes still seemed to be staring at me and I felt a shiver go up my spine. I don’t like him, I realized. But why? Was I just being paranoid about what Cassie said? I wasn’t sure I liked the idea of boys looking at me like that, like they were… leering. I think that’s the word I want. Uhg! I shivered. Maybe I was just looking too much into it.
A knock made me jump. “Didn’t you hear mom calling you?” asked Joe as he poked his head in.
I quickly closed the directory and got off my bed. “No, I had something on my mind.” I looked at him fighting with myself. “Joe?”
“Yeah?”
I chickened out. “Never mind.” There was no way I was asking my brother about boys. I’d just have to ask Mom. Or maybe I’d just let things be and see where they went. He’s new, I reminded myself. Maybe he’s just trying to fit in and find some friends. I ducked past Joe to see what Mom wanted.
* * * *
The next morning, I awoke early and left the house before Dad got out of the shower. I had an hour and a half before I had to be at school and I needed time to think.
What was I really scared of? That was the big question, and what was worse was I didn’t have an answer. I just felt this unusual fear that the new boy was someone I shouldn’t be around. I had had this kind of fear before when for some reason I had wanted a lock on my bedroom door. I didn’t know why, I just knew that I didn’t feel safe without it. After I got the lock the fear disappeared.
But what could I do about the new boy. He hadn’t done anything wrong. I hadn’t even spoken to him. What was it that had me terrified?
I walked up the street heading north towards school. The cemetery loomed up before me and I walked into it. This place never scared me. All those people sleeping beneath me made it feel peaceful. I sometimes felt if you listened hard enough you could hear the voices of those who had passed on. Granny May, my mother’s mother, used to say that you had to listen to your ancestors for wisdom from the past. My family thought that meant with journals but I thought it was something more. You just had to know how to listen.
Before I knew where I was going, I stopped at Granny May’s marker and sat down. “Hey, Gran,” I whispered. I sat there and thought about my problem knowing Gran could hear me. “What am I to do, Gran?” I finally asked.
I waited, but no peace of mind or answer came. After about ten minutes I got up to go. “Thanks for listening, Gran,” I sighed. “Maybe I need to do this on my own.” I could sense her apologetic smile and shrugged. “I’ll see if I can bring some flowers next time.”
I turned to leave and stopped. Up the hill from me, in the oldest part of the cemetery I saw a tall figure. I couldn’t see his face, but the dark hair . . . No, I told myself. Maybe it’s one of the caretakers. It can’t be Ethan. The dark figure walked away from me to the other side of the hill and vanished from sight.
I waited for a moment then followed. I must be crazy, I thought. Why am I doing this? But still I went up the hill. At the top, I found the dark retreating shape in the distance. He was headed towards school. At the edge of the cemetery the figure turned and looked up at me. It was Ethan. He smiled and waved before turning back towards school.
What is going on?! I collapsed next to a headstone. This is just too weird. I looked at the headstone that I was next to and gasped. It read: Elizabeth Marie Colfer Miller, 1677-1740.
